poached eggs

one of the few things i would eat as a child were my grandmother's poached eggs. every time i spent the night at her place she would make me one in the morning on a piece of buttered toast. i couldn't eat any other kind of egg and even now poached eggs are my favorite. my grandmother had this egg poaching pan that could cook three eggs at once in little trays that sat suspended over the boiling water. you can still find this type of egg poaching pan in stores, but the trays are usually plastic, not metal, and they don't cook as well, especially if the pan holds more than three eggs. so, the only method that i use is boiling them directly in the water...which can be a tricky business.

first of all altitude is a big factor, so if you live at a high elevation, this will be virtually impossible and you'll have to buy an egg genie, which will make a mediocre poached egg. i truly believe that the exact time and temperature will vary depending on where you live, so i will give you the info for where i live and you can tweak it from there. you'll have to try about a dozen times before you get the perfect system for your stove and location.

eggs
toast or english muffins
butter
salt
pepper

1. bring water to a vigorous boil in a medium sized pot.

2. lower temperature to where the water is boiling with medium sized gentle bubbles.

3. crack egg and gently drop egg white and yolk into the water as close to the surface as possible to prevent the egg from separating.

4. after the first 30 seconds make sure the egg isn't sticking to the pot by gently stirring the water. one or two times around the pot with a spoon should do the job.

5. my total cook time is 3 min. 40 sec. i prefer my poached eggs medium, so that will be a factor as well.

6. remove egg from water with a slotted spoon.

Tips: it is important to keep the boiling under control because an overly vigorous boil will separate the egg. dropping the egg in from too far above the water's surface will also separate the egg. once the egg is in the water it will be important to stir the water gently every once in awhile to minimize damage to the egg from the boiling and to ensure even cooking throughout the egg. for our medium sized pot we limit the eggs to 2 at a time, so they have enough room to swim around while they cook...3 at a time seems to create some collision issues and also too much of a change to the temperature.

this guy turned out perfect! i started my husband making these and he has truly become a master egg poacher...better than me probably :) i like mine on either half a slice of whole wheat toast or half an english muffin with a tiny bit of butter and salt and pepper on the egg. i eat this for breakfast or a snack at least 3 times a week. it's low cal and keeps me satisfied for at least 3 hours.

this one is on an english muffin...thomas' of course!...but i wanted to illustrate how perfectly evenly it's cooked. the best thing about poaching eggs in water versus using an egg genie or the suspended trays is that the whites are fully cooked, but not rubbery and the yolk is partially cooked all the way through and not too runny. so overall the egg is very soft and still able to hold it's shape.

wish list: i would love to try this old fashioned egg poacher gadget. i've never seen one before, but with my egg obsession i think i should own one of these.